One of the few remaining carousels built by master amusement park carver Charles I.D. Looff.

Stripes of flowers bloom each spring in a 50 acre rainbow of color.

Behind this beachfront shop lies a spectacular, colorful sea cave with an equally colorful past.

San Diego's most historic and haunted home.

A world-class observatory in the California desert.

The American rainmaker and a burst dam.

The sea once considered an ecological wasteland is now called "crown jewel of avian biodiversity" by scientists.

The remnants of two World's Fairs are here, complete with a 12-story globe, a mini-Manhattan, and a UFO-shaped pavilion.

The ghostly remains of an accidental sea.

America's most famous museum of medical oddities is home to the remains of Albert Einstein's brain.

An Airy Would-Be Solution to a Housing Shortage.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

An overlooked and unassuming engineering marvel.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.